Parking Bikes on Campus

[MirrorrorriM]

So I found out that the campus police were busting people that were riding their bikes onto campus and parking them next to their lecture halls. Apparently, a bunch of people that parked at the sweet spot that I used got swept out earlier that day.

When I found out, I was eating lunch and reading in a brick courtyard where they have tables and chairs set up, with my bike tucked away to the side, and had a campus officer come walking up and started checking out the bike (looking for a parking sticker, license plate, etc). I saw him and said politely "Sir if my bike being here is a problem, I have no problem with moving it immediately". He was nice about it, as was a female officer that walked up just then. They politely responded that "all the motorcycle traffic on the sidewalks was becoming a problem" and that I "cannot keep the bike that close to a building". Then they told me I could park in the faculty lot (which I don't have a pass for) because they would turn a blind eye to me parking there, since there are usually always open spots, as opposed to up against a building where there is more foot traffic. I thanked them for giving me the warning and told them that I would keep it off the sidewalks.

A kid, that I assume was one of the ones who had a bike that was earlier swept out, was telling me after this that people earlier were getting ticketed. Just goes to show you, a little politeness can go a long way.

[Schneiderman]

I got ticketed and all the politeness in the world wouldn't change the mind of the rotten... woman... that I dealt with. Despite the fact that two campus safety officers gave me express permission to park where I did. Thanks for helping me out, guys.

Get badge numbers for the officers that gave you permission. Even then, if you get caught it still might not do you any good.

[David 1]

Mirror dude.
What campus?
It sounds like UCLA.
USC I just pay as I don't want a ticket or tow away. Staff and faculty and students pay.
dc

[primalmu]

At my university motorcyclists are allowed to park in the parking garage even if we only paid for a surface pass. I think they figured that since there are very few motorcyclists its not worth policing and even getting separate parking stickers for surface and parking garage passes. Plus, motorcyclists never actually park in a space since there is plenty of room in the corners where there are no actual spaces.

[David 1]

Prim.
There are some places where you can get a ticket for NOT parking in a space, or ... towed away!
Blocking fire lane, blocking elevator, they may use any excuse. It ain't worth it to me.
d

[MirrorrorriM]

Mirror dude.
What campus?
It sounds like UCLA.
USC I just pay as I don't want a ticket or tow away. Staff and faculty and students pay.
dc

It's Rutgers University in New Jersey.

I have an actual pass, but its only valid on one of the 4 campuses in the city, and guess what? I have classes on 3 campuses. It's so much more convenient for me to just ride to the campus I have class on and park it behind a building, instead of waiting for a bus to come and riding that, you know?

[Kaellie]

At my JC we have designated motorcycle parking areas, that are all sweet locations close to the buildings. Plus, the semester parking pass is 1/10 the price of the auto parking pass!

[Grungydan]

I ride to campus as well. What I'm getting tired of is the scooters taking up motorcycle parking.

Before you think I'm bashing on scooter riders, let me explain. There is a ton of "scooter only" parking, and maybe 5 spots on the entire campus for "motorcycle parking". Scooter parking tends to be right next to the buildings, whereas it's a 5-10 minute hike from most of the motorcycle parking to anywhere you actually need to be (I know, not far, but that's not my issue). Motorcycles are not allowed to park in scooter parking, and will be ticketed for it. However, scooters take up motorcycle parking all the time with nary a glance tossed their way.

To top it off, I pay something like $35 a semester to park my bike in "motorcycle only" parking. Scooters are supposed to have to buy a permit too, but they ran out this year and thus are not ticketing any scooters for lacking a permit this semester.

So with no permit and never mind what the thing is, you can park your scooter in my damn motorcycle parking, which I don't understand because your freaking parking areas are plentiful and right next to the buildings.

I'm going to start taking pictures of this situation and take it to Parking and Transit, methinks. Stand on principle, I say.

[Hendrix]

A lot of cops don't care about helping people out because after a while, the job gets you somewhat jaded. It's a brutal reality. The best thing to do is to not assume that the cop is going to be a dick from jump street and try to talk to him/her like a human being. I can't begin to tell yall how many times I've stopped a car to let the driver know "hey your trunk is popped open" or "hey your muffler bracket is loose, you might want to get it looked at before it falls off" and the driver is already staring at me hard before I can even open my mouth. I understand that a lot of people (including myself) have had crappy experiences with douchebag police officers on traffic stops in the past, but try not to assume that every cop that stops you is going to be a jerk. I HATE writing tickets because in my opinion, traffic stops are one of the rare instances where a lot of "normal" people come into contact with the police. We deal with 10% of society 90% of the time, except on traffic stops...If the cop is ACTUALLY being a jerk, take his or her badge number down and put in a WELL FOUNDED complaint. Document everything. An unfounded complaint will get you in trouble, just as a well founded complaint will get a crooked cop in trouble. Scumbag officers give good cops a bad name, so the fewer of those on the streets, the better. Just my 2 cents from my side of the table...

[MagikMan74]

Not trying to speak for everyone, but it's good to hear the other side of any argument. Thank you for your input Hendrix, but it makes me curious as to your distinction between founded and unfounded complaints. As I'm sure each individual has their own perception of their complaint and would mark their own as a founded one regardless of the "common sense" approach.

[Hendrix]

I think almost everyone can agree with my definitions of "founded" and "unfounded". A founded complaint is something that actually happened, and an unfounded complain is something that a person completely made up. Some people hate cops (or were simply displeased with the outcome of their encounter with the police), so they like to call in fake allegations or accusations of misconduct.

[MagikMan74]

I agree with that definition of founded/unfounded, completely. I just was curious as to what would be considered that in a complaint that is filed. The only reason I think that that even caught my eye was your emphasis on the word "FOUNDED" in your original post. It would be pretty disheartening though to file a complaint based on something you would think is perfectly founded in your own reality, only to have it flipped by another's perception of founded. I just think that that is a hard judgement to make by the layman in terms of where is the line.

For example, him being told that he could park in the staff parking area by the two officers that were there only to be ticketed/towed by another group of officers at a later date. Would the complaint be founded on the original officers for telling him he could park there or the new officers who ticketed/towed him.

As much as I'd love to help "weed out the bad apples", I'm just of the mind set that it would actually be counter-productive and end up getting me further in. Which is exactly the mindset you're original post was trying to circumvent.

Don't get me wrong though, as I've had many friends that we're Sherriff's. Even used to go paintballing at one of their houses. So I KNOW there are some great police out there, just don't think it'd be worth my time trying to call out the one's I find that aren't. Hope I'm making sense... it's almost 5:00 and I'm just about to get off work. So I'm giddy with anticipation... ;)

[Hendrix]

For example, him being told that he could park in the staff parking area by the two officers that were there only to be ticketed/towed by another group of officers at a later date. Would the complaint be founded on the original officers for telling him he could park there or the new officers who ticketed/towed him.


Of course it's a founded complaint because the officers DID tell him that they would turn a blind eye to him. However, just because it's a good complaint doesn't mean that the officers are going to be disciplined. If that department gives the officers some discretion in the matter, they can't penalize them for turning a blind eye...then again, they can't penalize the stickler who enforces the parking ordinance either. They're both "doing their job" in two different ways.


Moral of the story (IMHO): Be up front and by the book when dealing with the police. Don't count on discretion all the time, and (especially nowadays) the really bad apples will generally weed themselves out (I've been on the job only a few months and I've already seen it happen...)

[MagikMan74]

Excellent. Thank you for replying Hendrix. I appreciate the "other" view sometimes. :)

[Hendrix]

Any time!